The Daily Word of Righteousness

God's Purposes in Christ

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (Ephesians 4:13)

Toward what goals is the glory of the ascended Christ moving us?

The unity of the faith.

The knowledge of the Son of God.

A perfect, mature man.

The measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

There is no question concerning the Divine goal for the Body of Christ. There is no question concerning the adequacy of God's wisdom and power for accomplishing all He has determined to accomplish.

Christ is the finisher, as well as the author, of our salvation. What He has commenced He shall complete. He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega.

One of the principal Divine truths that burns in the heart of the conquering saint is that God will bring the whole Body of Christ, and each individual member of the Body, all the way to the fullness of the image of Christ, in spirit, in soul, and in body. He who has called and justified us will also glorify us.

The ministries and gifts given by the ascended Christ will labor until each member of the Body of Christ is filled with the same refined gold of love, faith, trust, confidence, courage, and perseverance in the Person of God in Christ.

The ministries and gifts given by the ascended Christ will labor until each member of the Body of Christ comes to the full knowledge of Christ, until each member perceives Christ as filling all in all in the heavens and on the earth.

The ministries and gifts given by the ascended Christ will labor until the whole Body of Christ, and each member of the Body of Christ, has developed into a full-grown, mature man. The standard of maturity is the full stature of Christ.

We understand, from this passage of Scripture (Ephesians 4:13), that God will be satisfied with nothing less than perfection in the Body of Christ. Since one imperfect member would make the whole Body imperfect, each saint must be perfected "at the quarry" and then placed in the Body at the proper moment.

And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building (I Kings 6:7).

It is obvious, in Ephesians, Chapter Four that the Church, the Body of Christ, was conceived in the mind and heart of the Lord God of Heaven. It is likely that the creation of the Body of Christ, the bringing of it to unity and maturity, is the central purpose of the history of the world to this point.

To be continued.